A new school year is underway and parents have some homework of their own — knowing what rights they have within the public education system and how to exercise them…
New data shows that in a nation where teachers often stock their own classrooms, parents and community members are stepping in to fill the gap. For example, Minnesota spent $16,900…
A recent research policy brief from the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute found that a strong majority of civics teachers said they had self-censored in class due to fear of pushback…
High school seniors continue to struggle with literacy and numeracy, as revealed by historic declines in reading and math scores on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Administered…
Reading proficiently by the end of third grade is not only critical for a child’s future educational outcomes but also future career opportunities, earning potential, and economic mobility. Statewide, an…
Recently, KSTP’s 5 INVESTIGATES published an explosive report detailing the contracts for every superintendent in Minnesota’s 30 largest school districts. The 5 INVESTIGATES team submitted public records requests (occasionally along…
Since 2019, Minnesota has had a former educator in the governor’s office — an “Educator-in-Chief,” as nicknamed by Tim Walz himself and his teachers’ union Education Minnesota. “Thank you to…
Last year, Minnesota lawmakers agreed to fund another 5,200 seats of free, voluntary pre-kindergarten. This $38 million funding boost for prekindergarten comes as some school districts struggle to close budget…
A federal tax-credit scholarship provision will go into effect on January 1, 2027 and eligible K-12 students can then begin receiving scholarships to use toward qualified education expenses. If their…
To succeed socially or academically, students “have pretended to hold more progressive views than [they] truly endorse,” according to a first-of-its-kind study of Northwestern University and University of Michigan students…
The Minnesota Department of Education recently released data for the 2023-2024 school year, showing that the number of chronically absent students remains high in Minnesota. A student is considered chronically…
Academic performance on the reading and math Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) is slightly down from last year, and more than half of public school students statewide remain below grade-level proficiency.…
A recent study published in the journal IScience found that the number of adults who read for pleasure in the United States has continued to fall. While 26 percent of…
Chronic absenteeism remains at crisis levels in both America and Minnesota. Escalated by the pandemic, the 2023-2024 school year saw a national chronic absentee rating of 23.5 percent. In the…
Before the pandemic, chronic absenteeism in schools — defined as when a student misses 10 percent or more of the school year — was considered a crisis. But COVID pushed…
In today’s episode of the American Experiment Podcast, Grace and Kathryn are joined by Katherine Kersten, senior policy fellow at American Experiment. Together, they expose what Governor Walz and the…
A law passed by the 2023 DFL-controlled Minnesota Legislature that bars certain religious colleges and universities from participating in the state’s 40-year-old Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program has been ruled…
Numerous polls (and we write about them often!) show parents overwhelmingly support the growing education market and the policies that help families access these options. Polls also show (and we…
Support for charter schools remains high among the majority of all American adults at 63 percent. A recent national July poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of EdChoice asked…
A recently released report from progressive institute The Century Foundation ranked Minnesota number one in the nation for immigrant student support. The report judged states on three primary factors; (1)…
Substitute teachers step in when teachers are absent to ensure that classes run, students are supervised, and that learning takes place. But when a teacher is absent and the sub…
Center of the American Experiment returns to the Minnesota State Fair this Saturday to talk to fairgoers about the dismal state of third-grade reading. According to data from the Minnesota Department of Education, 85…
The 2023 Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Supply and Demand report notes that in the 2022-2023 school year, 95 percent of districts had difficulty filling open teaching positions. This alarming…
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, a case that critiqued the boundaries of state charter school funding. After Oklahoma attempted to authorize…